NYCDOE: Passport to Social Studies – Grade 12 Economics Unit 1 Guide

This Passport to Social Studies teacher’s guide is the first unit of the Economics course, titled: Personal Finance: Individual Responsibility and the Economy. This curriculum was developed by a team of NYCDOE staff and teachers, in collaboration with scholars of economics and social studies education. Students immerse themselves in the topic by engaging with case studies, reading and analyzing a rich collection of diverse primary and secondary sources, examining artifacts, and interpreting a variety of visual artifacts, such as charts & graphs, illustrations, and maps.

In this unit, Personal Finance: Individual Responsibility and the Economy, students are introduced to the discipline of economics through a series of realistic scenarios or case studies that follow the junior and senior year journey of K.C., a fictional New York City public school student at the fictional Economics High School. Students seek to answer the Essential Question: How can individual economic decisions shape a person’s financial future? By investigating how individuals and institutions make choices about how to distribute a finite number of resources under conditions of scarcity, students get at two core economics concepts over the course of this five-week unit. At the conclusion of this unit students synthesize what they’ve learned across nine case studies to create a personal debt and finance game.

Throughout the unit, students continue to strengthen social scientific and historical thinking skills from grades prior to cultivate and strengthen their ability to think critically and apply concepts to novel situations, and interpret, select, and cite accurate evidence, and use disciplinary vocabulary to develop their analysis.

This guide includes multiple components:

• Overview
• Day-by-Day Planner
• Model Lesson
• Unit Assessment (and rubric)
• Social Science Thinking Tools and Analysis Strategies
• Key Standards

To evaluate student mastery of content knowledge, cognitive processes, and critical thinking skills, this unit includes opportunities for formative assessments and a performance-based unit assessment. Please note that the NYCDOE 9-12: Passport to Social Studies materials also include a separate student Text Set for each unit.